Unexpected
by Achuris
Summary: After the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Mandarin attacks, can Tony and Natasha help each other build something new to hang on to in this new world they find themselves in? Sometimes hope can shine through the darkest storm clouds. Probably will change this summary when I think of something better-Review.


**DISCLAIMER**

Thisis a work of fan fiction, and as such is a solely not-for-profit activity. This material in no way intends to infringe on the copyrights that are held by any professional publishers, studios, intellectual property firms or any other such agencies.

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etcetera are the property of their respective owners, and any similarity to reality is nothing more than a unfortunate accident.

Author Note- I've had this idea bouncing around my head since Winter Soldier. And far as I'm concerned there are not enough IronWidow pairings in fan fiction and I believe it was a missed oppertunity in the MCU. I thought that Downey and Johansson had a great flirty chemistry between each other right from the get go in Iron Man 2. I've never seen any chemistry between Downey and Paltrow. This was way before discovering the Stark/Romanoff deleted party scene. Which btw, was only about a year ago. I've always thought that it would have cool to see a developing relationship between the two over several movies. Iron Man 2 would have been the flirty innicial attraction. Avengers could have had a quick scene or two showing they'd decided to do something about their attraction. Winter Soldier could have had a scene at the end with Tony picking Natasha up from the cemetary to take her back to Malibu. Iron Man 3 would have been cooler with Natasha fighting at Tony's side. And we could have got a little more in Age of Ultron. Instead of the out-of-the-blue Natasha/Bruce pairing. Then of course we could get some more IronWidow teaming up against Captain America in Civil War. I'm still hoping that they follow the comics in that reguard.

Anyway, after that simi-rant, I'd like to say I consider this story still a little rough. And I'm not sure about taking it past a one-off. You guys tell me...

Unexpected

Just over two months after the recent event's in DC, that resulted in the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha Romanoff or Natalia Alianova Romanova as the world now knew her to be, had been laying low. Moving from place to place, never staying anywhere more than a few days. She was ready to leave her motel in New Orleans when she learned of the attack on Stark's Malibu home by the Mandarin.

Shock, disbelief and something ill defined, convinced her to break her self imposed rule of staying on the move. It was with a heavy heart that she sat down in front of the TV, watching and waiting for word that if her teammate survived. It took thirty-nine hours before confirmation that Stark survived the attack on his home. It was the longest thirty-nine hours of Natalia Romanova's life.

As she closed her motel room door for the last time and walked to her vehicle, she couldn't stop thinking about Stark's press conference. It was unusually short as far as Stark press conferences go. But in that short time she saw the haunted look in Stark's eyes. She could remember seeing a similar look in his eyes after Loki's attack on New York. And being the expert spy and assassin that she was, she was also able to read the body language between Stark and Pepper Potts. It was clear that this most recent incident was not received well by Ms. Potts.

 _'Not really surprising...'_ Natasha thought to herself. The woman tended to throw infantile tantrums after brushes with danger. She did not react well to the Vanko incident or his later attack on the Stark Expo. Going as far as almost quitting her CEO position. Stark later admitted that she also made her displeasure over New York known as well. So, seeing her near hostile body language was not shocking. It was Tony's body language that was most telling, however. It spoke of a man already mourning a loss. Yes, it was quite clear to Natasha, that this latest incident had been "The straw that broke the camel's back". Although she herself had any childish thoughts of a "Happily Ever After" stripped away long ago, she was saddened that Tony had to have had the same experience. It was this, combined with an unacknowledged, but deep seeded desire to not be alone that caused her to turn her car east, towards New York.

Three days later found her parked across the street from Stark Tower or Avenger Tower, as Tony had been referring to it recently. After driving across half the country, it was only now, when she was only a short distance away, that she started to second guess her actions. Would he even want to see any of them? Would he want to see her? Granted, their relationship was now better than after she revealed to him that she worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. apposed to legal. But they weren't close. A growing urge to correct this is what finally compelled her to slip her car into drive and turn toward the Towers underground parking structure.

Five minutes later, found her ascending in the elevator with a single duffel bag over her shoulder. The "Good Morning, Miss Romanova." she got from JARVIS, brought a small smile to her face.

"Good Morning, JARVIS." She replied softly.

"Mr. Stark will be with you momentarily."

"Oh?" Asked Natasha, with a lifted brow.

"Yes, it seemed your visit, caught him by surprise."

Before she could respond, the elevator doors were opening and Tony was suddenly standing in front of her. "Ah, Agent Romanoff, er, I suppose it's Natalia Alianova Romanova, now. Right?" Asked Tony, as he pulled her into a gentle hug. "I heard about S.H.I.E.L.D., sorry." He finished in an honestly remorseful voice.

Natasha allowed herself a moment to bask in Tony's empathy before giving him her own. "I heard about the Mandarin attack. Sorry about the house-" Natasha stopped, looked down for a moment to collect her thoughts, then finished. "And about Pepper."

Tony broke eye contact as he stepped back. Natasha could almost see past his tired looking exterior and see him mentally forcing his sadness into a mental lock-box, allowing him to push on with life. It was clear that while he'd obviously been using the excuse of work to keep himself distracted. But she could see a steel core determination to not let the currently tarnished status of his life break him.

"So, not to sound impolite, but what are you doing here?" Asked Tony.

Natasha didn't respond as her focus was on Tony's chest and the now missing Arc Reactor. As the seconds ticked away and Natasha's attention remained on his t-shirt clad chest, Tony actually started to feel self-conscious. "Um, Natasha?" Tony tried again.

Natasha reached up with her hand, placing it over where the Arc reactor used to be. She slowly tilted her head up until their eyes met. "You had it removed." She said softly, almost in a whisper.

Her staying at the tower wasn't planned. Nor was it discussed. After her unusually awkward reaction to seeing Tony without the Arc Reactor that once kept him alive, Tony showed Natasha to one of the recently completed tower suites. Although Tony never suggested that she should leave, Natasha got the distinct impression that Tony went out of his way to avoid her. Normally, she wouldn't have minded. But, for reasons she couldn't quite explain even to herself, this begun to bother her. So, without contentiously deciding, Natasha began going about making Tony's efforts to avoid her a practice in frustration. After several days of this, it was clear that Natasha had won the struggle as Tony stopped trying to avoid her. For a reason that she wasn't willing to admit to herself, this pleased Natasha.

As the days turned to weeks and the weeks into months, a kind of route was formed. More often, than not, she would follow him down to the garage/lab. In the beginning it was for her to have some company as for the first time in her life, she was uncomfortable with the thought of being alone. Natasha, highly intuitive woman that she was, quickly deduced that she was providing as much comfort to Tony, that he was for her. In the beginning, she would silently follow him to the garage with a book in hand. While Tony tinkered with a car or worked on a new Iron Man Suit design, Natasha would quietly choose a spot nearby, but out of the way, to read. Somewhere around the start of the third month, this gave way to her actively helping him in his building sprees. A few weeks later, Tony begun joining her for her exercise regimen.

And then, without remembering how or when it started, they began to really talk to each other. In him, she found a soft spoken, quietly passionate, lonely man. In her, he found a fiercely intelligent, subtlety affectionate, lonely woman. It is in this sharing of interests, this routine, that their souls found a sort of peace with each other and the small world that they created within the tower.

It's after a rare day spent mostly by herself in quiet contemplation, that she finds him out on the balcony of the tower. There is a cool breeze that makes the seventy-four degree day, an unusually pleasant one for late April. She gently touches his back with her hand as she steps up next to him. Just a few months ago, such a familiar and affectionate gesture would not have existed between them.

 _'So far in such a short time'_ She thought.

"Natasha" Tony says just above the sound of the lightly blowing wind, turning toward her with a soft smile. "You've been so quiet today."

"I had some thoughts I wanted to... contemplate." She replies, looking out at the steadily setting sun.

When all she got in return was a lifted eye brow, she continued. "I've never had this before. A safe place to call home. A place I could find a little inner peace. Here. With you."

Tony opened his mouth as to reply, but quickly closed it settling for a smile instead. This in turn brought a smile to Natasha's face. "What's this? Have I found the magic words to render Tony Stark speechless?"

"Can you blame me? You are literally the only person ever to suggest that I, Tony Stark, helped them find inner peace."

"Well, I'm glad I could be your first." She replied, with a smirk and light shoulder bump.

This brought a chuckle out of Tony. This in turn brought a pleasantly warm sensation to Natasha's worn and battered soul. A sensation that against her instincts, she was learning to appreciate. She once again thought about how much her life had changed in such a short amount of time. She thought about the differences in herself. How she went from an emotionally detached woman, to a woman who was starting to see the benefits of embracing and accepting one's emotions. A woman that was starting to feel that she had wasted enough of her life avoiding human connections.

It was just as strange for her as it was for Tony, to know that he actually broke through her walls of emotional indifference. Or perhaps it shouldn't be. Afterall, he had the unique distinction of being the only person to make her loose her cool while on mission. She could still remember being in Miss Potts' office and angrily telling Tony that she was surprised he could keep his mouth shut and not blow her cover. Now, years later, she still felt a stab of embarrassment of how she stormed out of the room like a spurned teenage girl. The man had been eliciting atypical emotional reactions from her since the very beginning. Except now he was doing so from friendship, rather than hostility.

And there was the real subject she wanted to contemplate, their friendship. It was developed in a vastly different way then her friendship with Clint. Her relationship with Clint was simple and straight forward. Clint was with her during some very difficult times. Theirs was a friendship forged in a shared adversity. While this new friendship with Tony was forged in hope. Hope for a better future. It was such a strange thought. Her, Natalia Alianova Romanova, daring to hope and dream of a better and brighter future. All thanks to Anthony Stark.

Natasha by her very nature had never been a hesitant or indecisive person. So, it was with the knowledge of this new revelation, that she asked Tony the only question now in her mind. A question born of hope. A question that was as complicated as it was simple.

Natasha glanced down, noticing Tony's hand lightly gripping the balcony railing in front of them and placed a hand atop of it. She turned toward him with hope in her eye and took a leap to faith.

"Tony, will you marry me?"


End file.
